Product Details

• Directors: Fina Torres
• Format: NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Facets Multimedia
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 5555245440

Editorial Reviews

Maria learns that her aunt Oriana has died and willed her a crumbling and remote Venezuelan hacienda where Maria spent a short time as a girl just entering puberty. Maria goes to the hacienda to prepare the place for sale; while going through her aunt's papers, she recalls her visit years' before. In flashbacks, we see the young Maria trying to sort out why Oriana never leaves the hacienda, what secret may be in Oriana's past, and who the mysterious Sergio was. The young Maria, as she learns things, imagines her aunt's youth, cruel father, and first love. After these reveries within reveries, Maria, now a grown woman, makes one more discovery.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Venezuelan Masterpiece, January 27, 2004

By 

Victor Hugo (Salt Lake City, UT, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oriane [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A beautiful Venezuelan production that reflex an era in the Venezuelan society. Every corner of the movie involves you in a mistery that needs to be discovered, to reveal a sin at the very end. The passion and the love that only can exist in the rooms of a lost old mansion of the Venezuelan forests. I enjoyed this jewel and very seductive movie very much.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars When worlds collide, July 17, 2002

By 

Louix Escobar Matute (West Hollywood, CALIFORNIA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oriane [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Albeit difficult to follow, due in part to the series of disjointed flashbacks and confusing images, this is a beautifully told story of pain and betrayal set in an exotic and lush tropical setting. The plot line is simple: a woman, residing in France, inherits an old hacienda from her aunt on the Venezuelan coast in the early 70's, only to discover her aunt's illicit relationship, and subsequent seclusion, with her illegitimate half brother. Venezuelan society of the 1930's and 50's was extremely hypocritical and chauvinistic, a point exceedingly well portrayed in this film. The mise-en-scène and the photography are top notch. The acting is subdued and languid, almost somnolescent in its reverie of another era. To appreciate this film, one has to have an understanding of Latin society; its intolerance for female rôles outside the established "norm;" its many unspoken, rigid rules and its complete disregard for human nature. The contrast in this film, offered by the lushness of the landscape and the dryness of the interaction within the family, is its most salient attribute.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mysteries of Adolescence & Discovery, June 25, 2007

By 

A. Bottone "Toniob" (Saipan MP USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oriana (DVD)

I saw this film over 15 years ago, and it still resonates in my memory.

For me, Oriana was enchanting, and I returned to the theater to see it 4 or more time, unusual for me.

Impressions of this film may be very different. This is a genre of mysteries of adolescence and discovery film, and for those with imagination who relish the leisurely unraveling of clues, this is a must see.